


Seoul Searching

by countrysundae



Series: Requests [9]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Model AU, Model Hyungwon, Soulmate AU, Stylist Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 19:10:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17431865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/countrysundae/pseuds/countrysundae
Summary: “Can I request a Hyungwon soulmate au where you hear your soulmates voice in your head. But then he finds them and realises that his soulmate is mute?” From my Tumblr (Follow me there at @countrysundae)





	Seoul Searching

Hmm.” Hyungwon sighs as he watches from backstage at his former bandmate, Jooheon, rapping and performing his heart and soul on the platform in front of hundreds for the crowd below him. They screamed and cheered as Jooheon spat into the microphone about all the hardships he faced and how it’s shaped him as a human being today. The tall, pink-haired man watches his friend with a gleam in his eye. He missed dancing and being a part of each other lives, but, now that he was truly an adult more than well on his own, he was glad to have his freedom.

Hyungwon has never been the type to go seeking anything other than to equate something to his name. The fame never really getting to his head, even when the group of seven boys split to work on solo careers. He’s retired from the music scene, turning to one that appreciates him more: the modeling world. At least there he is exposed, strutting down the catwalk or doing promotional pieces for skin care lines. He still had a decent amount of gigs lined up, the trip to America to walk for a well-known designer coming up in less than a few days now that he thinks of it.

He watches Jooheon finish his set, bringing Changkyun on as a special guest, the sea of people losing their last few brain cells at the duo rapping together. It brought a smile to his usually stoic face as he watches the pair play off each other.

“Sir,” Hyungwon’s assistant, Yeri, asks him as he flicks his gaze down to meet hers. “There is another brand who wants you to walk before the Jacobs show. The brand is called Yeezy and the designer is Kanye West I believe.”

Hyungwon’s lazy eyes bulge at the mention of the big celebrity, a small smile he had dropping immediately off his puffy lips. “What?” He shakes his head slowly and points with a boney finger to himself. “He wants me?” The disbelief was apparent in his voice, brows furrow as he looks at his young assistant with mild concern. “Yeri, are you sure he didn’t get me confused for someone else?” He asks again, not being certain to what was happening.

She shakes her head and hands Hyungwon her tablet, the iPad bright in the dark of the backstage. The email is already up on the screen as he leans over to read the message from Mr. West’s team. His blue contacts skim over the lines, seeing that in fact Chae Hyungwon was requested to be the main focus walker at the Yeezy show. His heart was beating out of his chest, there was no way.

He didn’t need the frame, he barely needed more than this, being present at one of his old bandmates sold-out show, but, being wanted and scouted by one of the biggest names in not just music but in fashion wanted HYUNGWON to walk for him…It made his heart soar.

“Yeri,” he whispers as the crowds roars to life behind them. “Confirm with his team that they want me and if that’s right then…I guess we are going to the America Fashion Week a little earlier than planned.” He twitches the corner of his mouth up, feeling like he was undeserving, but, extremely humbled at the same time. She nods her head, typing furiously away at her electronic device as Hyungwon stares at his friends on stage, barely focusing on anything else than what he was going to walk in and for whom.

America, here we come he thinks as Jooheon’s fans are screaming and yelling all around the venue.

Something big was about to happen, Hyungwon could feel it in his lanky, boney body. Something was on the horizon, but, he was unsure as to what it was. The feeling pitted in his stomach, making him more worried that he needed to be in this moment or so he was hoping. His nerves were lit as Yeri books the flights in the next few minutes, sealing the whole deal, making everything come to light.

Onward to the melting pot of the world.

—————-

“New York City.” Yeri sighs as she and Hyungwon exit the taxi from the airport they were just riding (stuck in traffic) in for longer than expected, dropping them at the more upscale hotel she had gotten them with separate rooms. “We haven’t been here in a while. You usually prefer Milan or Paris for Fashion Week.” She says with a giggle, the wind whipping her raven hair wildly about as they enter the hotel, the warm glow of the chandelier above the check-in line was illuminating the night outside. “Mr. Chae? Are you doing alright?” She inquires up at her employer, noticing his suitcase handle gripped tightly in his veiny hands, his eyes were glassy and darting around, and his jaw was clenched tight as if he was strained, holding back. He simply nods and says he’s tired, not wanting to concern her further.

Hyungwon was a man of few words anyway, but, he could barely focus on anything and it wasn’t because of his nerves, no, this was something else. While he was indeed tired, the tall man had several concerning thoughts in his mind and walking in the chic, the designer show wasn’t the issue pressing in his racing mind.

It was something almost supernatural, this strange occurrence that was happening inside Hyungwon’s mind and he was too afraid to ask Yeri for the fear of being sent straight to a mental institution.

He was hearing voices in his head. Well, not voices, it was a singular voice.

He was hearing a voice in his head.

It was a female voice, one he did not recognize, it was on the quieter side - soft and gentle - and it kept asking itself about if it had everything it needed for the next day. It went on and on about disposable sponges and if it had enough brushes and what shows it had to do at what times.

Hyungwon was sure he was going insane. His body was just telling him something, to take it easy, not be so wound up, do some yoga before he was supposed to use his god given body to walk in a line and back on a raised platform. But, the pit in his stomach was growing, worried he was stressing himself out too much with the voice that had been haunting him. As soon as they landed it became more apparent, louder now than it was before. He was going crazy. There was no other explanation for the weird noise and empty feeling in his gut. Maybe, he had the flu and was delirious? That was probably it. That HAD to be it as the voice starts counting how many concealers it has now.

“Yeri,” He whispers out to the shorter assistant, “Can we get me some medicine?” Her eyebrows shoot to her forehead as they finish checking in to the hotel. “I think I have a cold or something.”

Her face softens as she realizes along with himself that he’s probably just a little sick and out of it. “Of course Mr. Chae.”

————-

One trip to a drugstore in the blistering New York City later and Hyungwon is trying his best to pass out, sprawled out among the pillows and white sheets of the fancy hotel, the voice quieted for now.

His long, steaming shower was filled with fleeting thoughts about who the voice belonged to. It wasn’t Yeri’s, his mother’s, or any female he knew. She was speaking in English too which was a dead giveaway. Though he could comprehend English better than he could speak it, he was able to follow along with this woman, where ever and whomever she was, was saying.

He sighs as he gets up to flick the light up, the city that never sleeps still buzzing and working below him, the garment district never ceased to amaze him. The twinkling lights from the buildings and cars made him miss the streets of Seoul, wishing for a second that he was back, knowing that he would only be here a week.

Seoul…Soul…

A hallow, the empty feeling started to seep its way up his spine.

This life wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to. The late night and early mornings, the single strut down the raised platform with people who were boney and lanky from birth, being paid well, but, the lifestyle of some of the very popular models was not his style, especially in America. The after parties and clubs never felt like home to him. No, Hyungwon prefers the quiet of his studio overlooking the city, not being much of a talker himself. He felt like he was missing something that wasn’t just home though, the ache in his chest made him think it was more than the city he resides in on the other side of the world. This feeling was an ache, a burn in his stomach, one that wasn’t fixed with food or medicine.

No, he was missing someone, though he hadn’t the slightest clue who.

He lays himself down, trying to cut off the impending questions that would whizz through his mind at any moment now. The alarm on his phone set for only a few hours for the day he had scheduled with the Yeezy fashion line. The clock ticks on the wall next to him, reminding him that he can worry all he wants, time was ticking and so was the remaining hours he had for sleep.

Time to try to turn his brain off.

———

“Mr. Chae!” Yeri barks at him on the other side of the door, his alarm blaring in his ear, as she pounds on the door once more. “Five minutes and we have to go Mr. Chae!” She calls to him as he groans, pulling the sheets above his head, snuggling in the white satin deeper as he inhales sharply.

His foggy, groggy brain was not ready for this today, the voice in force already as he unlocks his phone and checks the time.

Time to start his coveted job.

——-

Only an hour of sleep in, not to mention the thirteen and a half hour flight and time difference he now had to adjust to, and this weird head cold that was making him hear voices. Hyungwon was looking a little worse for death this morning as he packs a small bag of the essentials, slipping back into his jeans and a black pullover. He slides his black baseball cap over his bed head, adjusting his black face mask as he heads out of his hotel room.

Yeri immediately hands him a tall iced americano from Starbucks, his favorite, as soon as he steps out of the door. He wasn’t a very demanding boss, only wanting his coffee directly handed to him and his beauty sleep, was that too much to ask?! One of those was more achievable than the other, especially with the life he lived.

“Rough night?” She asks on the mirrored lined elevator ride down to the lobby of the glitzed out hotel.

“Mhmm.” He responds as the voice comes through loud and clear, setting up her station or something, waiting for the anticipated celebrity model to arrive.

What was happening to himself? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know as he moves his midnight colored mask, sipping on the green straw of his coffee, trying to act nonchalant.

“Can you manage?” She asks up at him, voice laced with concern as he nods, pink strands flipping a few times as the door to the elevator opens. They step out of the electrical moving box as Yeri smirks, staring straight ahead, “Good, the car is here.”

——-

Hyungwon’s stomach was pitted, the worst pain he’s had so far in his body since this whole thing started. He wasn’t sure if he should take anything for the feeling. What do you take for the feeling of emptiness? Nothingness? Loneliness? The feeling like he was missing something, something was building, something was coming.

And he had a fleeting thought that it was probably in this venue.

He tries to keep a neutral face, the voice in his head fit to burst, sounding very annoyed and curt, talking about running around like an idiot and how this designer was a pain but paid the voice well, her favorite though he was seen to be a bit of an ass.

Hyungwon questions the voice briefly to himself. There’s no way. She couldn’t be talking about….

“A-yo!” The loud voice of the celebrity fashion designer rings out in the backstage area of the Yeezy stage. The other models where here, the reports and photographers, the crowd was settling into their assigned seats. Mr. West was going to sing a song or two before the fashion spread before the crowd. “Can Kim get some water or something?!” He rasps out. He catches sight of Yeri and himself walking toward him, his face morphs from agitated to delighted to see the semi-popular Korean celebrity approaching. “Chae Hyungwon!” He pronounces his name perfectly on the first time, taking Hyungwon for quite the surprise. “How are you, man?” He shakes Hyungwon’s hand rapidly as the taller foreign model gives him his best toothy grin, struggling because of how stressed out he was under the surface. “I saw you walk for Versace and I knew I had to have you as my main star of course.” Kayne rambles on, directing him to an empty corner where there was a station that his name specifically on illuminated by the warm glow of Edison lights. “The main main star is me of course - I’m a god.” He states as Hyungwon is told to sit as Yeri answers emails on the far side of the backstage that was specifically for assistants and interns and press.

The voice was so close, Hyungwon could sense it as it talks clear as day on the other side of the studio to someone in rapid fire about how someone could throw away its whiteboard. His skin was buzzing - definitely not his nerves talking now he decides. This was different, something he’s never felt before, and he was dying to know what the cause of all of this was.

“My girl y/n will be your personal stylist today.” He flashes his pearly whites at Hyungwon who watches on with his own strained smile. The name of the stylist set his skin of fire, his baby hairs standing at attention, the anticipation rising in his stomach at the impending meeting of the stylist. “She’s been with me from the beginning, she’s a beast, she’s on fire, but she doesn’t talk much so don’t be offended if she doesn’t say anything okay?” Mr. West ends his rant as he sees a clothing rack pass by, yelling about how the whites needed to be ripped and shredded more, as he leaves Hyungwon to sit and wait for this impending stylist to arrive at his chair.

The ache in his chest was palpable - his skin set in a constant in between of a chilling, icy cold and a sticky, melting sensation. His vision was starting to spot as the voice sighs and says it’s time for her to work her magic. Was he under some kind of spell? Was he stuck in another dimension? Another dream of some sort? He wasn’t entirely sure or if he could even think straight right now as the burn in the empty pool of his stomach was stronger now. He feared the worst medically, if he was truly insane or if this was a mid-life crisis or something? Was his aging body at his limit now?

TAP!

Hyungwon is startled out of his spiral of self deprecating thoughts, turning his glassy eyes away from his reflection in the mirror to the woman clad all in black stood to the side of him, setting her whiteboard and black marker down in front of the spread of brushes and palettes, looking down at him with a blank expression on her face.

Hyungwon’s vision bursts into hues of vivid color, like he’s stepped into a waterfall of rainbows, surrounded by rays of light from every spectrum. He raises his brows, his mouth popping open as he gawks at this woman he’s never met openly. The pooling, aching feeling in his stomach being replaced by a warm, airy feeling, one that melted his fears and his burn in his body away. Golden, glittering stars are popping and exploding around her head, a halo of dim light radiating around her in a way that Hyungwon has never seen before. He feels connected to this woman, this stranger that he’s never met, knowing nothing and everything about her for a long time.

‘Holy shit!’ She raises her eyebrows but nothing comes out, her perfect lips never moving but Hyungwon is hearing the voice loud and clear. ‘He is so much more handsome close up than in his headshot!’ Hyungwon is silent, mouth still agape as he watches every move she makes, rakes his grey contacts over every pore of her flawless face.

Hyungwon is shocked into silence. The voice that’s been haunting him for a while belonged to the this stunning, vivid creature perched at her station before him.

He had been hearing her voice in his head for a long time…was he also feeling her ache and loneliness too?

She then smiles and picks her board up, scribbling on it fast, talking in her head all the while about how good looking Hyungwon was and how she was glad that she had helped pick Hyungwon to walk for the show with Kayne. She holds up her writing device which stated, ‘HELLO, MY NAME IT Y/N. NICE TO MEET YOU. I’LL BE YOUR STYLIST FOR THE SHOW TODAY. WE HAVE THREE LOOKS FOR YOU TO WALK IN TODAY. ALL MONOCHROMATIC.” Hyungwon nods when he’s finished reading, watching her pearly whites come through her pink, glossy lips. She erases and starts again, writing at lightning speed as Hyungwon takes in the angel before him, glowing and ethereal.

She holds up her board again, saying, “I’M GOING TO START ON YOUR MAKEUP AND HAIR NOW.” Hyungwon dumbly nods again, letting her get away with murder at this point is she wanted to. She tilts his head up, Hyungwon let his adam’s apple bob in his throat at the light sensation.

‘Wow, do I even have anything to cover up? He’s flawless.’ She muses in her head as Hyungwon’s contact coated pupils stare into her face fondly.

“Oh please, fix my under eye bags?” He whispers out low, his rasp rough with not using much these past few hours while she pauses her movements. “I haven’t slept well.” He further states as she raises a symmetrical brow in question.

She shrugs as she picks up a large pink sponge, soaking it in face toner. ‘Weird…Almost like he read my mi-’

“Mind?” Hyungwon finishes her thought for her, face twitching up in a small smile again.

She whips around and stares at him with wide, wild eyes. The colors emitting from her body are flaming upwards, licking the ceiling now as she stops in her tracks to stand like a deer caught in headlights. She wasn’t sure what to make of him and rightfully so. The look of bewilderment apparent and almost laughable on her shocked face.

‘No, no, I’m going crazy.’ She shakes her head, resuming want she was doing as she bounces the butt of the pink material on his pale face. ‘There’s no way - zero way - he could be listening to me right now.’ She taps the sponge all over his face as he watches her with steely eyes, feeling rejected for some reason, not knowing why. ‘I’m mute, there’s no way he can know what I’m saying unless I write it down for him.’ She reassures herself in her mind as she starts to place moisturizer on his skin with a brush now. ‘Y/n you’ve had way too much coffee this morning! You’re being delusional!’ She chuckles to herself in her head, the sound like millions of heavenly bells ringing out above the clouds.

Hyungwon raises his hand very gently, as to not startle her, lightly taking a hold of her wrist, ceasing her movements. She then furrows her brows, eyes flicking to the connections of hands then back to his pupils. He leans in slowly, hearing her breathing hitch as he leans in like he’s telling her a secret.

“What if I told you that I could hear you though?” He asks her as she lets out a shaky breath, hearing the clatter of the brush falling to the floor underneath them. “What would you say to that, hm, crazy girl?” He leans back in the raised chair, looking at her orbs that were blown wide once more in awe from his words. Watching her piece together everything in her mind, piece by confusing puzzle piece.

Hyungwon wasn’t certain why this was happening to himself right now, why her of all people he was drawn to, that he literally was drinking in every fiber of her being, but, he wasn’t going to fight it. Her presence was more than he could ever hope for, basking in the shine and sparkle of the light emitting from her soul around him.

Soul….

‘Is he…Are you the one I’ve been missing?’ She asks him in her head, narrowing her eyes at his figure sat in the chair across from him, whiteboard out the window as they communicate like this now. 

“I think I am, yes.” He hushes out, his suspicions being sated with the information given, shaking his pink bangs back and forth a few times. “I’ve been hearing you for quite some time now - since the other night actually, though, I’m not sure why.” He explains his case to her as she braces against her station.

‘I only saw your face two nights ago, walking for the Versace show for their spring collection, pulling up your headshot and sending it to Kayne, saying we needed you for the show…I needed you for the show rather...’ She trails off, her eyes finding the floor. ‘I don’t know why but I knew I needed you…I started to have a pain in my stomach and I thought I was going to die.’ She describes herself to Hyungwon as he watches her intently. ‘It felt I was in heartbreak, that I was missing someone, but, I knew they were on the way, that I would see them again soon…’ Her gentle, kind eyes come back to be fixed on Hyungwon’s. ‘I think that person is you. I feel it in my soul…If that makes any sense…?’

Soul….

“Soul mate,” Hyungwon mutters out. Looking up into the most beautiful, shining eyes he knows he’ll ever see. “We are soul mates.” He takes her hand, the flesh of her appendage warm and sending electricity flowing through him. “We are soul mates, y/n.” He kisses her hand watching a shiver climb through her body, working her way from her toes to her fingers.

She starts to tear up, Hyungwon feels a protective current leap through his body as he stands to loom over her smaller form, folding his arms over her for a tight embrace - one that felt like home, wrapped in a million blankets and comforting tea on a cold winter’s day.

‘Please don’t leave.’ She asks him as he smoothes the back of her hair, the other hand stroking the tense muscles of her back, her face buried in his black pullover. ‘I don’t want to be apart. I don’t want that pain again. I need you.’ She whispers out into her mind, sounding distraught, her body shaking into his.

He produces a low hum in his throat as a response, not wanting that either, not wanting the ache and pain from not being close to her to spring forth once more - knowing that he loved her with every once, every molecule in his being already and would continue to.

“Come to Seoul with me, my soulmate?” He asks her, parting the steadfast embrace, looking into her glassy orbs as she nods her head with a smile as the stage manager is asking for dress rehearsal. He kisses the top of her forehead before they part, knowing that they wouldn’t be apart any longer.

And that feeling, made his soul soar.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always appreciated! <3 Thanks for reading! Happy Birthday, Chae Hyungwon! -Jan 15th-


End file.
